Drury Scholars program in its sixth year of connecting to the community

Bob Westenberg, a theater professor at Drury, works with Drury Scholars in 2012.

In the spring of 2008, three Drury professors hatched an idea to try to build bridges between racial and ethnic groups, support education and do it all on a shoestring budget.

A few months later, 15 African-American, middle school-aged students spent a week on the Drury campus learning about literature and chemistry, attended a Springfield Cardinals game and realized the potential in their futures. Drury Scholars was born.

Since then, Scholars has expanded to serve more than 50 Springfield Public Schools students. It includes girls and provides year-round programming.

"The Drury Scholars program is consummate with the vision of higher education and Drury's vision," said Peter Meidlinger, a Drury English professor and a Scholars founder. "I never doubted that we'd be doing this forever."

Now entering its sixth year, the Scholars curriculum for this summer, which begins today, focuses on a theme of "Are you ready?" As in, are you ready to apply to college and take the ACT?

All of the students heading into their junior and senior years of high school will finish their week at Drury with a practice ACT.

"College readiness is more than intellectual and academic," said Bruce Callen, a Drury physics professor and another Scholars founder. "There also needs to be a familiarity with the college environment and a comfort with finding and applying to college."

Last year, Drury Scholars hired Francine Pratt to be program coordinator. In the past, Drury professors and students had some year-round contact with the Scholars and that has increased with a focus on college readiness. During the most recent academic year, Pratt took some of the Scholars to visit colleges around the state and region, including: University of Missouri-Kansas City, St. Louis University and Southeast Missouri State.

This fall, three Scholars alumni will be enrolled at Drury, but pushing Drury or college has never been the goal. For the Scholars founders, the goal has been to make the students aware of their potential and opportunities.

"All along, we just wanted to show these kids that there were people in the community who cared about their success and make them realize that they have partners in the community who are committed to having a healthy, sustainable and viable community where everyone has an opportunity to succeed," Callen said.

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Drury Scholars program in its sixth year of connecting to the community

In the spring of 2008, three Drury professors hatched an idea to try to build bridges between racial and ethnic groups, support education and do it all on a shoestring budget.